Changes in the Stratosphere and Ionosphere Parameters During the 2013 Major Stratospheric Warming

The paper presents the results of the complex experiment (lidar and ozonometric observations), carried out during the period of the 2013 major sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) in the North Asia region. The data of this experiment were supplemented by the ionospheric parameters observations. We considered variations in the critical frequency and peak height of the ionospheric F2-layer (foF2) from ionosonde measurements in Tomsk and Irkutsk, as well as the behavior of the total electron content (TEC) based on the phase dual-frequency GPS/GLONASS receivers' data. We revealed significant variations in the stratosphere ozone concentration, ionospheric electron density, as well as in the thermosphere O/N
2
ratio with the similar pattern during the SSW. The ionospheric response to SSW in the middle and high-latitude regions is suggested to be caused by changes in the neutral composition at the thermosphere altitudes.